One of the main characters in the Home Alone universe revealed that he secretly added a clause to his contract that would enable him to earn millions upon the release of the sequel.

In Home Alone and its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Daniel Stern played Marv Murchins, one of the Wet Bandits, with his partner in crime, Harry Lyme (Joe Pesci).

Attempting to take everything and anything from the McCallister family while they travel to Paris to celebrate, the criminal couple does not expect Mom and Dad to leave behind eight-year-old Kevin, played by none other than Macaulay Culkin.

What follows is one of cinema’s most classic stories, with Kevin attempting to boobytrap his family home from Marv and Harry.

Stern, now 67, claimed that he almost didn’t appear in the original Home Alone picture, released in 1990.

The producers extended the filming from six to eight weeks, but the offer of $300,000 (£236,000) remained unchanged. After abandoning the film, the producers summoned him back because they did not like his replacement.

Following this, he referred to the decision to withdraw from the film as “one of the worst moves of my show business life.”

As we fast-forward to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Stern understands his luck in not turning down the first picture, but he also knows his wealth has skyrocketed, with Home Alone grossing $500 million (£393 million) globally in cinemas.

And when he found out Pesci was worth up to $3 million (£2.36 million), he wasn’t happy with the $600,000 (£472,000) he received.

His attitude caused him to break from his agent, who had suggested he accept an improved $800,000.

Instead, Stern requested $1.5 million plus two percent of the sequel’s total revenues.

“I knew they couldn’t do the movie without me, but I was also insecure since I almost blew it the first time,” he told me.

“I didn’t want to be too greedy when I loved the movie and the part so much.”

Stern received $1.5 million, but the studio compromised on the proportion of earnings, dropping it to one percent rather than two.

However, given the success of Home Alone 2 at the box office, Stern continued to enjoy his one percent profit.

During its theatrical run, the sequel earned $359,000,000 (£282,000,000) worldwide.

Stern earned an additional $3.59 million by putting one percent into it.
That equates to around $8.07 million in 2024 dollars, after inflation.

It’s easy to understand why the Wet Bandits didn’t return for a third film, given that this was arguably their largest and most successful theft to date.